Remembering the services of Mustansar Hussain Tarar — an author and travel enthusiast on January 13, 2021Mustansar Hussain Tarar is a popular name in literary and television circles of Pakistan. He was born in Ghakhar Mandi on March 1, 1939 at his maternal grandparents’ house but he was raised in Lahore with his other family members. His parents hailed from Mandi Bahauddin. Rehmat Tarar, his father operated a small agricultural seed […]
Bayaan and Hamza Bin Tahir, a music video renaissance on December 22, 2020My generation has seen music in the form of 78 speed records with a song each on its either side, then EPs, LPs and then cassettes followed by CDs. The facility provided by internet and computers gradually saw these forms getting into background. Audio listening was necessitated to be complimented by videos to popularize a […]
Remembering the contributions of Zahid Hassan — a Punjabi novelist, short story writer and researcher on September 20, 2020I have known Zahid Hassan for almost three decades and have seen him growing in stature as a novelist and a short story writer. Initially he was a poet also. He is also a researcher. Presently in his employment with Lahore University of Management sciences (LUMS) where he conducts research. His designation is Research Associate, […]
The story of writer, editor and publisher Maqsood Saqib’s struggle on April 17, 2020This story has been developed on the basis of interview with Maqsood Saqib, writer, editor and publisher of Punjabi language. Maqsood Saqib published the Punjabi magazine named “Maan Boli” from 1986 till 1997 and now he has been publishing the monthly magazine under the name “Pancham” from 1998 onwards. He was born in a Jutt […]
Kalyan Singh Kalyan – the first Sikh Punjabi Professor in Pakistan on April 9, 2020Sardar Kalyan Singh Kalyan is the first professor belonging to Sikh religion in Pakistan. He is Assistant Professor in Punjabi Department at Government College University, Lahore. His research on Punjabi script is a part of Syllabus. He produced a booklet in which he made Punjabi Gurmukhi script easier for students to study and learn from. […]
Punjabi poetry that is a blend of old and new diction on January 11, 2019Poetry book Asaan Dil Nu Murshad Jaan Laya in Punjabi by Abrar Nadeem starts with his couplet “Warehan Da Jagrata Ki Aei, Sahnu Puch Aklaapa Ki Aei” (Ask me about lying awake for years with accompanied loneliness). From this couplet one can infer that new poetry has found its way out from within traditional poetry. […]
‘Sirf Tumhare Liye’ — poetry subservient to the dream world on December 31, 2018Equating poetry with love with some conditions is the thesis forwarded by Dr Hassan Farooqi in his poetry book ‘Sirf Tumhare Liye’ (just for you).He contends that both love and poetry are not done by design. They just happen. This is one of the similarities between the two. One cannot put a stop to either […]
Mujeeb Alam — a singer with a soft voice on December 29, 2018In the embryonic days (mid 1960s to end 1960s) of Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV), its Lahore Center was located at the hinder side of Radio Pakistan Building where presently Sales Section of Radio Pakistan is housed. There was not enough space for administration after making a recording hall and engineering panel. There was need to […]
Ustad Akhtar Khan — classical singer, a qawwal and a Naat khwaan on December 25, 2018It was a cold Saturday morning when I received phone calls from fellow artists Ghulam Abbas and Mudassar Malik saying that Akhtar had died. He died like my mother used to pray that she would be taken to the Almighty without any long ailment that would cause problems for the sick person and the ones […]
Bipin-Babul, music composers with Madan Mohan’s aroma in their compositions on December 3, 2018I was playing the song ‘Jab Chaye Kabhi Sawen Ki Ghata Ro Ro Kei Na Karna Yaad Mujhe’ from Indian film ‘Reshmi Roomaal’ in the voice of Talat Mahmud, a colleague sitting in the Pakistan Music Center observed that listening to it reminded him of the good old days when such songs were heard on […]